Page 121 of No Boss
He watched her, open and consuming. His hand left the wall, fingers brushing her cheek, pushing damp strands away with a tenderness that made her chest rise faster.
His thumb traced her cheekbone. Rough against soft skin. A touch that burned.
She couldn’t look at him and feel this at the same time. Her eyes closed.
“Meera.”
Her name came low, close enough to sink into her skin.
Her breath caught, caught too sharply to hide it.
His thumb moved to the corner of her mouth. Her head tilted, leaning into him on instinct.
His lips brushed her temple. Not a kiss. Not yet. Just heat.
Her fingers tightened in his shirt, nails dragging over muscle, pulling him closer.
“Hukum!”
He growled, the need to have her rising against the control he refused to lose.
His head dipped. His mouth found her cheek, tasting rain from her skin. His hand slid from her waist to her hip, pulling her fully against him.
She felt everything.
The solid planes of his chest. The taut muscles of his stomach. The unspoken need pressing into her.
A sound escaped her. Half breath, half plea.
His mouth moved along her jaw, slower this time, as if he meant to remember every inch.
She trembled under his touch, fighting herself, losing ground with each passing second.
He would leave. This, whatever this was between them, would not stay. A moment stolen in rain, gone just as quickly when the sun returned.
His mouth hovered near her ear, voice low enough to unravel her all over again. “You’re shaking.”
She should step back. Create distance. Protect herself from wanting a man who belonged somewhere she could never reach.
She was the estate manager. A caretaker’s daughter. Her family had served Anand Mahal for generations. Always at the edges. Always watching, never belonging.
He was Thakur. Owner. Heir.
That distance lived in every wall, every rule, every breath of this place.
She knew how such stories ended. Time had moved forward, but not enough to erase lines drawn this deep.
He belonged to a world that had no place for this Haveli. For her.
She knew all of it.
And yet… her heart had already chosen. Quietly. Completely.
Maybe it began with that first No, Boss. Maybe with the way he had stayed. The way he had begun to bend, without breaking.
Even if he walked away, she would have this. This moment. This memory of being held like this. Of being wanted.
Her eyes burned. Rain hid it.
